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THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, MAY 16, 2019
Seaside student threatens school shooting
IN BRIEF
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
Warrenton to conduct
smoke test of sewer lines
Warrenton will smoke test sewer lines later this
month.
The tests are scheduled for May 29 through May
31 and will be conducted by Civil West Engineering
Services.
According to the city, smoke testing is an effi -
cient and cost-effective way to identify leaks in the
system, as well as locations where unwanted storm-
water is entering sewer lines. Workers above ground
can spot any smoke escaping through the holes in the
system.
During testing, people in Warrenton may see smoke
escaping from their eaves and yard drains.
Smoke may also enter houses through faulty or
improper traps and drains. The city recommends pour-
ing water into all drains, including fl oor drains, prior
to testing to minimize smoke entering a home. The
smoke is nontoxic, nonfl ammable and harmless to
people, animals and plants.
Smoke should exit through the vent stacks of houses
and possibly escape through manholes. However, any
other observed smoke in a house can indicate that dan-
gerous and toxic gases are also able to enter the home.
If this is the case, city staff suggest contacting a pro-
fessional plumber.
People who notice smoke in their house or on their
property should report it immediately to the personnel
conducting the smoke tests or call the Warrenton Pub-
lic Works Department at 503-861-0912.
— The Astorian
Health offi cials report new
measles cases in Washington
SEATTLE — Four new measles cases have been
diagnosed in western Washington involving people
who spent time at the Seattle-Tacoma International
Airport, authorities said.
The Washington State Department of Health said
Wednesday that two of the cases were in King County,
which is home to Seattle, with one each in Pierce and
Snohomish counties.
In a statement, the health department said the exact
exposure information wasn’t known but all of those
infected spent time in the airport.
The new cases come after a Pierce County man was
diagnosed with measles over the weekend.
Public health offi cials in late April declared a Pacifi c
Northwest measles outbreak that sickened more than
70 people was over after six weeks passed without a
new infection in southwest Washington state, said Dr.
Alan Melnick, head of the Clark County public health
department.
— Associated Press
DEATHS
May 15, 2019
PEELER, Rev. Lance
V., 49, of Astoria, pas-
tor of Grace Episcopal
Church, died in Asto-
ria. Ocean View Funeral
& Cremation Service of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
May, 5, 2019
CHESSER,
Clark
D., 79, of Warrenton,
died in Astoria. Ocean
View Funeral & Cre-
mation Service of Asto-
ria is in charge of the
arrangements.
MEMORIAL
Saturday, May 18
MARANGON, Vittorio “Vitto” — Celebration
of life and potluck from 1 to 4 p.m., Clatsop Post 12
American Legion, 1132 Exchange St. Bring a dish and
a favorite funny story.
ON THE RECORD
DUII
• Vanessa Ahl, 40, of
Astoria, was arrested by
Astoria p olice on Tues-
day for driving under
the infl uence of intoxi-
cants. A report came into
the Oregon State Police
around 6 p.m. Tues-
day about a Jeep Wran-
gler driving westbound
in the wrong lane on
U.S. Highway 30 near
Svensen. Ahl allegedly
drove to Astoria, where
she was contacted by
police in the Safeway
gas station and registered
a blood alcohol content
of 0.23%.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
THURSDAY
Cannon Beach Parks and Community Services Commit-
tee, 9 a.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Seaside Transportation Advisory Commission, 6 p.m.,
City Hall, 989 Broadway.
Cannon Beach Design Review Board, 6 p.m., City Hall,
163 E. Gower St.
SEASIDE — A Seaside
High School student was sus-
pended Tuesday after threat-
ening a school shooting.
The student sent an email
to several classmates warn-
ing them not to come to
school Wednesday because
there would be a school
shooting, according to Sea-
side police. Police contacted
the student, who admitted to
sending the email.
“The juvenile denied that
they had intended to carry
out the treat and that the
threat was made because
they were frustrated over an
unknown reason,” the police
said in a news release. “The
early investigation did not
discover any known access
to fi rearms, nor was there any
indication that other students
were involved as a potential
co-conspirator.”
The Seaside School Dis-
trict decided to hold classes
Wednesday, with an increased
police presence, after deter-
mining there was no threat
to students or staff. The stu-
dent was not taken into cus-
tody by police, but faces an
administrative inquiry and
possible expulsion.
Possible criminal charges
will be forwarded for review
to the Clatsop County Juve-
nile Department and the d is-
trict a ttorney’s o ffi ce after
investigation.
The threat comes after two
students at the high school
were arrested in February
for bringing an unloaded gun
to campus in an attempt to
intimidate another student.
“Thank you to the cou-
rageous students who made
us aware in a timely man-
ner,” the school district said
in a message Tuesday to stu-
dents and parents. “Our big-
gest deterrent to violent acts
against our school commu-
nity is our student body who
choose (to) say something
when they see something.”
Police ask anyone with
information
about
the
threat to contact Detective
Guy Knight with the Sea-
side Police Department at
503-738-6311.
Summer, fall fi shing seasons set for Columbia River
The Astorian
Chinook salmon returns
to the Columbia River will
be the lowest in almost a
decade this summer.
As Oregon and Washing-
ton state fi shery managers
set seasons for the summer
and fall, they had to bal-
ance below-average projec-
tions for a number of salmon
stocks with what is expected
to be a better run of coho.
Fall and summer fi sh-
eries will operate under
another year of reduced sea-
sons and bag limits and, in
some cases, closures, state
fi shery managers announced
Tuesday.
On the Columbia River,
the summer fi shing season
will be limited to steelhead
Center for Whale Research
Chinook salmon returns are expected to be low.
and coho retention. Anglers
will not be able to keep steel-
head — hatchery or wild —
from Aug. 1 through Aug.
31. They will not be able to
keep any Chinook or sock-
eye salmon during the sum-
mer fi sheries.
Only 35,900 summer
Chinook are forecast to
return to the river, the low-
est return since 2000 and,
according to fi shery manag-
ers, too small to allow har-
vest by non treaty fi sheries.
Sockeye salmon retention
is also off limits due to pro-
jected low escapement of
fi sh to spawn.
The fall season, which
starts on Aug. 1, is based
around a projected return
of 349,700 fall Chinook,
higher than last year’s actual
return of 293,400.
Upriver bright Chinook
are also predicted to return
in numbers higher than last
year. But the allowed harvest
rate on this stock is reduced,
which means a shorter reten-
tion season for anglers hop-
ing to bag fall Chinook.
“The reduced harvest
rate for upriver bright fall
Chinook has made it chal-
lenging to design fall recre-
ational fi sheries the last two
years,” said John North, fi sh-
eries manager for the Ore-
gon Department of Fish and
Wildlife’s Columbia River
p rogram. “Working with
the public in the recent sea-
son-setting process, we tried
to balance opportunity with
management constraints for
fall Chinook and steelhead.”
Oregon offi cials support federal wolf delisting
Commission vote
set for June
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
SALEM — Oregon wild-
life offi cials are backing a
proposal by the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service to lift
endangered species protec-
tions for gray wolves in the
Lower 48 states.
Curt Melcher, director of
the Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife, submitted
a letter in May in support of
federal delisting. While the
Oregon wolf population con-
tinues to grow, the depart-
ment is “currently situated to
become the primary wildlife
agency responsible for wolf
conservation and manage-
ment statewide,” he wrote.
Wolves are already del-
isted in Eastern Oregon, but
remain federally endangered
west of highways 395, 78
and 95.
Since returning to Oregon
in 1999, wolves are gradu-
ally but steadily expanding
in numbers. According to the
latest population estimate,
the state counted at least 137
known wolves in 2018, a
10% increase over the previ-
ous year.
Most packs remain con-
centrated in northeast Ore-
gon, though several groups
are now documented in the
Cascade Range — includ-
ing the Rogue pack near Cra-
ter Lake, White River pack
south of Mount Hood and
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has written a letter in support of removing wolves
from the federal Endangered Species List.
Indigo group in the Umpqua
National Forest.
“We fully expect this
expansion
to
continue
regardless of listing sta-
tus as we have documented
increasing numbers, packs
and breeding pairs where
they are not currently listed
in the eastern third of Ore-
gon,” Melcher wrote.
Environmental
groups
oppose delisting wolves,
arguing the species exists
today at just 1% of its former
numbers and less than 10%
of its former range. The Fish
and Wildlife Service has so
far received 74,562 com-
ments about its proposal.
In a previous interview,
Jason Rylander, senior attor-
ney at Defenders of Wildlife
in Washington, D.C., said the
Trump administration is fail-
ing to consider the entirety
of wolf range, including the
Pacifi c Northwest.
“They seem to have this
idea that historic range of
the wolf does not matter,”
Rylander said.
The
Department
of
Fish and Wildlife manages
wolves under the state’s
Wolf Conservation and
Management Plan, which
Melcher said requires the
agency to diligently monitor
threats to wolves — such as
poaching, diseases and habi-
tat destruction.
“Based on empirical data
and a viability analysis, these
threats are not having a sig-
nifi cant impact on the Ore-
gon population,” he said.
The Oregon wolf plan
also regulates when wolves
can be killed after repeat-
edly preying on livestock.
As it stands, wolves cannot
be killed in w estern Oregon
except in defense of human
life. But if the species is del-
isted, it would be subject to
so-called “chronic depreda-
tion” guidelines.
Wolves in w estern Ore-
gon would fall under Phase
I of the wolf plan, which,
Melcher said, would “pro-
vide protections similar to
what would occur under
the Oregon ESA.” Phase I
defi nes chronic depredation
as four confi rmed attacks
on livestock in six months,
with strict rules for ranch-
ers implementing non lethal
deterrents.
Eastern Oregon is now in
Phase III of the w olf p lan,
which allows for ranchers to
request killing wolves after
just two confi rmed attacks
on livestock over any period
of time.
The state is nearly fi nished
with a long-overdue update
of the w olf p lan, which was
supposed to be completed in
2015. If passed, the defi ni-
tion of chronic depredation
in Phase III would change
to two confi rmed attacks on
livestock in nine months.
A draft of the revised plan
was released in April, and
the Oregon Fish and Wildlife
Commission is scheduled to
vote at its meeting June 7 in
Salem.
Clatsop Post 12
Friday, May 17th
Baked Chicken Dinner
$8.00 • 4pm ‘til gone
“Karaoke Dave” at 6PM
Saturday, May 18th
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Armed Forces Day
National Anthem “Chris Lynn Taylor”
Presentation of Colors & Service Flags
Prayer
Program
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BBQ Pork Rib Dinner
$8.00 • 4pm ‘til gone
Music by Greg Parke at 3:30pm
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